


Why won't you take me seriously?

by unluckyloki



Category: DCU, Reign of the Supermen (2019)
Genre: Angst, Bruce is a helicopter parent, But he's trying, Clark in a new parent, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Kon is pinning, M/M, Tim does not understand what's going on, What else is new, a few buildings blow up, bad puns and finger guns, because I can't live without a little, damian is a murder gremlin, everything is cute and fluffy, except the part with, like he's really dense guys, pls READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE for more info!, this is me trying to humor, timkon are 14ish - 15ish, who is terrified of the responsibility
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-08-20 23:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20235979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unluckyloki/pseuds/unluckyloki
Summary: Clark is worried that the newly found Superboy does not interact with his peers much, being superhero and all. So, he asks Bruce to arrange a play date for his kid and Red Robin.Superboy misses the 'play' part and goes straight to 'date'.





	Why won't you take me seriously?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ryri029](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryri029/gifts).
  * Inspired by [the art](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/510178) by Ryripeachy on tmblr. 

> This started off as an idea inspired by an art I saw, so now this fic is a gift for the artist, [ Ryripeachy](https://ryripeachy.tumblr.com), who blesses us with a lot of cute TimKon art
> 
> Title form Noah Kahan - False Confidence which is a very fitting song for the characterization of Kon I've chosen to use here  
(also, bear in mind that his Kon uses some suggestive language while flirting, he knows that the word 'hot' is used to describe someone you're attracted to, but he doesn't exactly know what it implies. So the diagnosis is that he's baby)
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING for the 'trapped under a collapsed building' trope!
> 
>   
Tim Drake does not exist in DCAnimatedUniverse because DC are cowards. Here, I fixed it.  
If someone's interested, here's my idea of how it could've been:  
At the moment when the fic is taking place, Damian is Robin and Tim is Red Robin.  
Bruce was presumed dead at some point, but he came back much faster than in the comics so it all wasn't as bad as it could be.  
Dick gave Robin to Damian and this made their relationship with Tim pretty sour. Also, that's when Tim created Red Robin.  
When Bruce came back, he tried his best to work with the situation at hand, but, well, it's hard.  
Tim still lives at the Manor, though, and he's not a CEO, because that's too much pressure on a kid, so NOT ON MY WATCH

“So,” Superman starts, looking uneasy.

There’s a heavy, long pause, filled only with the soft clicks from Batman’s wrist computer.

The pause drags on.

And on.

And on.

“What is it,” Batman doesn’t exactly _ask_, in an absolutely flat tone.

“Um. So, you know. There’s Superboy now?” Clark continues, sounding even more nervous.

Batman finally turns to him, leaving the device he was working on.

“The one who called you ‘Dad’ when he first met you? And then he told you about the things Luthor had done to him and you said he’s not going back to him and will stay with you? The one you ended up sending to live with your parents? Because you’re so worried about him and had already, on multiple occasions, asked me for books on parenting for him? Yes, I may know something about him.”

Superman maybe blushes a little under Batman’s stern gaze, but does not say anything.

“Clark. What is it.”

"Well. Ma and Pa are always there for him, of course. And me and Lois visit."

Superman pauses, but Batman says nothing, so he has to continue.

"He's not very good at subtle, you know? He just doesn't understand why we need secret identities."

The cowl covering Bruce’s face doesn’t stop frowning. Superman is not sure if he wants to know what expression is really underneath it, so he doesn’t look.

"But he doesn't exactly talk to people his age. He needs friends!"

Batman stands still and silent as a statue. Superman goes on:

"So I thought, maybe he could? Maybe _you_ could? Maybe one of your boys could, I dunno, patrol with him?" Clark says in a rush and holds his breath.

"Okay," Batman says.

"No, listen, I promise he'd -- wait what? You said ‘okay’?"

“That is exactly what I said,” Batman agrees and goes back to tinkering with his device.

“But why did you agree so fast? You never agree so fast!”

“His abilities need to be assessed if he’s to join any of the teams,” Batman says, calmly, but he also moves his head half an inch away from Superman, changing the angle so the other man can’t see his face clearly.

“Aaa-and?”

Bruce sighs, as if there’s no other way, as if answering is bringing him discomfort.

“And. He’s a kid and needs friends.”

“Aww, you big softie!” Superman grins.

“Clark,” Batman admonishes sternly. “I can still change my mind.”

***

Batman does not change his mind.

He lets Superman know when and where Red Robin can meet Superboy for a joined patrol.

He also tells Superman that there’s no guarantee that the boys would even like each other and he’s not going to pressure Red Robin into becoming friends with Superboy if he doesn’t want to.

And that Clark should remind Superboy that Red Robin is human, therefore anything too risky is prohibited.

Superman laughs and tells him not to take this play date too seriously.

Reading the texts on his phone, Bruce sighs – it’s hard not to take it too seriously when, somehow, with the metas involved, something _always_ goes wrong.

***

The joined patrol between Superboy and Red Robin is set on Thursday evening in Metropolis.

Tim had been waiting for the other teen for over 15 minutes now.

He’s still the only one standing on the rooftop.

And it’s not like Tim can leave, because Bruce had given him a mission to evaluate Superboy.

But it doesn’t mean he’s not pissed.

Somewhere down the street, an alarm goes off.

Well, Superboy’s still not here, so he’d better go and check.

Red Robin grapples to a small pawn shop on the corner of a street. The glass window is broken and there’s 3 preps Tim can see inside. Two of them are busy stuffing goods into big sacks, the other guy is tinkering with a safe on the wall. They’re wearing something that looks suspiciously like pantyhose on their heads. Why do these people think it’s an acceptable disguise, Tim will never know. At least the Gotham criminals are smart enough to know that this won’t do anything to prevent the facial recognition software from identifying them.

Weird difference between his city and Metropolis to have pride in, but Tim’ll take what he can.

“Hey, boys,’ Tim says in a sing-song voice, whipping out his bo-staff. “Need some help?”

The thieves are absolutely unprepared for his appearance and seem untrained, because Tim finishes with them quickly. Just as he wraps up zip-tying them outside of the shop, there’s a movement behind him.

He turns to see Superboy hovering half a foot off the ground, looking around with mild interest.

“Did’ya do this y’self?” Superboy asks, munching on something crispy from a square paper package.

“You’re late!” Tim accuses the other boy.

Superboy stops chewing and puts his hands up in a placating gesture:

“Hey, I came here as soon as I could! Well, maybe I coulda been here faster, but that Thai place’s really rad!”

Tim sees red, and it’s not from his costume.

“You went to a Thai place?!” he begins indignantly, but then something beeps.

He’s standing in the doorway and the wall with the safe is behind him and that’s where the sound comes from and there’s a small device that he hasn’t noticed – and how the hell haven’t he noticed?! A small red dot of light is blinking on it, more rapidly with each second, and Tim knows what it means without recognizing the device itself.

“MOVE!” he yells at Superboy, showing him further away from the shop.

Surprised, Superboy falls down to the ground and Tim throws his own body on top of the other teen.

What was left of the glass windows shutter with the power of explosion. The sound from it is too close and too loud and it leaves Tim’s ears ringing for a long moment.

When he finally lifts his head and looks back, the thieves that he took time to zip-tie carefully are running away and Red Robin is still too stunned from the explosion to try and get up.

Also, as he understands belatedly, it’s not the only reason he can’t get up.

Superboy is holding on to his hips tightly.

Tim turns to him, ready to start a fight, and maybe he wants to yell and mock the other boy for – what? Getting scared and freezing up? But Superboy beats him to it.

“You’re _so_ _hot_,” are the first words that leave his mouth.

Red Robin freezes.

The boy underneath him looks awed, mouth slightly open as his eyes roam over Tim’s face. He fights the urge to check for the mask – he knows it’s there.

Oh, right, Superboy is still underneath him.

Red Robin springs to his feet hastily. Superboy sits up.

“Did you hit your head?” Tim says, and maybe it’s an octave too high.

“Aww, you worry ‘bout me, it’s so cute!” Superboy coos and then thump his chest proudly. “Don’t worry, I’m invulnerable!”

“I know you’re invulnerable, I’ve read your file!” Tim hisses, not meeting Superboy’s eyes.

He opts for dusting off his uniform and then turns around to get back into the shop.

“Hey, wait, there’s still some fire!” Superboy screams after him, but Tim does not listen.

The fire is localized anyway – the explosion took a part of the wall, together with the safe. The money that was inside is torn to shreds – Red Robin wonders if the thieves even knew what they were doing with that explosive. He frees a fire extinguisher from the rubble and puts out the fires, trying to find pieces of the device that caused it.

“Hey, there’s one guy left!” Superboy calls for him from the outside.

One of the thieves didn’t get away and now is quivering in Superboy’s supergrip, lifted off the ground by the scruff of his neck like a naughty puppy.

“Swear, didn’t never done nothin’ wrong in my life!” the man screams when Red Robin approaches him.

“Batman doesn’t like explosions. _Really_ doesn’t like them,” Tim says. He’s not even joking, Bruce does have a thing about Robins and explosions, after Jason. “So you better start talking, before he gets here.”

The guy pales considerably.

“’S just a thingy we bought off some scientist guys, ok? Don’t know nothin’ ‘bout it!”

“I’ll need the address and names.”

The guy bubbles all of the details he knows and Tim starts a search in his wrist computer. It’ll take some time, so he also putts in a call for emergency services. Together with Superboy, they strap the unlucky thief to the lamp post.

“We’re such a cool team!” Superboy says, grinning. “Wanna go on a date?”

Tim nearly gets a whiplash from the change of subject.

He is saved by Superman and Batman arriving, or rather flying in, with the Kryptonian hero carrying the other man.

That was fast, even for them. Which means that they were somewhere close. Which also means that Bruce positioned himself somewhere nearby after giving Tim this mission.

Like this day could’ve gotten any worse.

“Red Robin,” Batman says flatly. “We’re going back to the cave.”

Tim grits his teeth but does not say anything in front of Superboy and Superman. From the corner of his eye, he can see Superboy waving at him enthusiastically, but he turns away and follows Batman over the rooftops, grappling to where, as Tim presumes, the extra Batplate can be found.

He’s proven right when Batman opens a hidden panel on one skyscraper rooftop. Bruce’s punching in the code and Tim can’t take the silence anymore.

“Why are you doing this, you promised you won’t helicopter parent me anymore!”

“This was supposed to be a simple patrol and you end up with explosions and emergency services!”

“Like this never happens to _you,_” Tim accuses.

Batman stops. Breathes in, breathes out.

“I’m sorry,” Bruce sighs. “I was. Worried.”

Maybe Bruce saying it makes Tim a bit warm inside, but he’s also still pissed.

“This is not ‘worried’! This is you, not trusting me to do my job!”

“I trust you to do your job, I don’t trust _myself_ to be okay if something ever happens to you!”

Tim blinks under the mask and finds that he has nothing to say. He knows that Bruce blames himself for what happened to Jason, but he’s never heard the man himself directly say anything connected to that trauma. The explosion must’ve really made him relieve it.

Tim’s still frozen in place when the hidden door springs open, giving them a path to the Batplane.

“Listen, son,” Bruce sighs, putting a heavy hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Let’s get home, okay?”

Tim nods, still not being able to find his voice, and follows Batman into the plane. They take off and fly in silence for over 10 minutes, before Bruce clears his throat and asks:

“So. Superboy. The first meeting didn’t go well. Are you willing to try again?”  
“He was being _w__eird,_” Red Robin says, scrunching his nose.

Batman turns to him, his mouth a concerned line.  
“Weird how?”

Tim shrugs. He’s happy that Bruce’s so much into the grim and dark aesthetics that the lights in the plane’s cabin are dimmed and it’s impossible to see the blush on his cheeks.

“Dunno. Just, weird.”

“Superman said something about him not having adequate social skills.”

Tim snorts.

“Like _we’re_ the ones to judge.”

Bruce’s lips twitch and Tim grins – oh, he’s still capable of making the Dark Knight smile in his own way. That’s definitely a win.

“Would you mind telling me your impression of him?” Bruce asks carefully, as if he’s afraid that Tim might not want to talk to him.

As if Tim would ever neglect his duty to report on a mission, even a short one like this.

So, Red Robin tells Batman about it, in a calm and professional manner, also completely missing the parts where Superboy kinda hit on him? Tim’s still not sure about that part, but, well.

The mission is not complete and he will _not_ fail it.

He’s willing to try again.

***

When Superboy – Conner, he’s Conner now, and Kon-el in private with Superman – gets home, the first thing he does is start up the laptop Clark had given him. He’s gearing up to spend hours on Waynet to research Red Robin.

Because, the guy was just soooo cool! Strong, fast thinker, a mere human who threw himself in the way of the blast to shield Superboy. And, from up close – smoking hot, all perfect skin and beautiful dark hair and Kon fell head over heals _instantly_.

The search on Red Robin proved to be...well, not really fruitful. There was not enough information online, even though Conner had managed to save a few nice pics taken by the bystanders. Yeah, the info included a few cases closed by Red Robin and a bunch of people saved, but the most crucial thing wasn’t there – who is he, really? Is he dating anybody at the moment? How can Superboy contact him? And, more importantly, what does he look like under the mask?

The mask _did_ add an element of a very-y sexy mystery, but it also hid the guy’s eyes and _go__sh_ Superboy really wanted to see them. Maybe they’ll be green? Conner really likes green eyes.

He spends the rest of the day daydreaming and watching TV mindlessly. There’s a rom-com series Ma watches every evening that he pretends not to listen to, but the moment the couple on the screen starts declaring love for each other, he can’t help but sigh.

He wants that, too. He wants someone for himself, like Ma has Pa and Clark has Lois.

He’ll do everything he can to get that.

***

The information they’ve gotten from the scientists takes an unexpected turn when Tim links it to some of uncharted and officially non-existent LexCorp labs. Considering that said labs are capable of creating something like Superboy, it’s a rather threatening discovery.

Batman thinks so, too – but then he proposes for someone else to take over the case. Obviously, Tim does not agree with that at all.

“What about your mission to assess Superboy’s abilities?” Bruce asks over the coffee they’re having in the Manor’s kitchen.

“I can take Superboy with me to investigate. Two birds with one stone?”

“If you’re sure,” Bruce sighs.

Tim absolutely does not like Bruce’s insistence on trying to take him away from the case, but he keeps his temper in check. He’s not a little kid to throw tantrums, after all. Not like _somebody_ in this house.

The rendezvous with Superboy is planned for the next evening. They are to start from a recently vacated warehouse at the outskirts of Metropolis. Superboy arrives to the meeting spot only a few minutes later than the intended time. Tim does not pass up the opportunity to appear from the shadows directly behind him and startle the boy. He does jump, but Tim’s not prepared for Superboy turning to him and positively _beaming_.

“Hi!” Superboy smiles that super-megawatt smile that he obviously inherited from Superman. “You look good today! Wanna ditch this mission and go to that Thai place?”

Yeah, the one Superboy went to instead of going to the meeting spot _as instructed_. Like hell!

“No,” Tim says through gritted teeth. “This mission is important.”

Superboy looks momentarily defeated, but then beams again.

“Well, as soon as it's with you, I'd go anywhere!”

Tim chooses to ignore that and climbs through the warehouse window. The place has been stripped bare and there’s not much to look at, but Red Robin’s going to do his damn _best_ to find clues.

“Superboy, we need to look for clues. Tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary,” Red Robin instructs.

“I already do!” Superboy says, his voice suspiciously exited. Tim turns to see him wink. “It’s you!”

And.

Does finger guns.

Tim’s brain goes totally blank. He can practically feel the white noise filling it.

He blinks.

And blinks.

“Look for clues,” Red Robin repeats robotically and turns away.

Tim knows his face is burning.

Is Superboy making fun of him?

Before he has any more time to dwell on this, there’s a crash from the backdoor, where the trashcans are supposed to be. Superboy and Red Robin exchange a glace and rush to the door.

Superboy gets there first, of course, because of his superpowers, but Tim’s a close second.

When he reaches the place, there’s a guy struggling in Superboy’s grip. The scene seems familiar and soon enough Tim recognizes the thief from earlier in the skinny man.

“How are you out of jail so fast?” he asks, bewildered.

The man looks at him with eyes wide as saucers.

“Oh, I thought he’s kinda familiar!” Superboy says. “That hair color is so weird, whatcha call it?”

The guy’s eyes get even wider when he turns to Superboy.

“’S auburn, like my mamma’s. ‘S very common, actually,” the guys explains.

“Looks nice,” Superboy nods.

Tim just can’t believe this guy!

“Can we stop discussing hair colors and get back to the task at hand?! Like, for example, what are you doing here?” Tim says, jabbing the thief into the chest with a finger.

“Nothing?” the guy says, smiling uneasily.

Tim lifts an eyebrow at that. It can’t be seen because of the mask, of course, but the guy seems to get the message.

“Um, just, cleanin’?” the guy says and kicks a tin can with the toe of his boot to emphasize the point.

“How about you try again?” Tim proposes.

“Yeah, what he said,” Superboy says, shaking the thief.

“Maybe they’ve sent me to see if someone came here an’ then I gotta say who I saw an’ then I’ll get money? ‘S all, swear!”

Well, that’s something interesting at least.

“Who sent you to do this?”

“Dunno. Hey, hey, real honest, I dunno their names an’ the faces, never in my life didn’t see them! They’re the same guys who sold us that bomb thingy? I dunno how they found me, but after I got the parole they sent me message in an envelope an’ gave the instructions an’ I didn’t do no bad thing, I swear never killed or nothin’, but I need the money!”

Tim sighs. That’s such a common story – poverty pushing people to crimes. He’s seen it more often in Gotham, of course, but it seems like Metropolis has this problem, too.

“I’ll give you twice they offered if you say to them what I tell you to. And then I’ll see if there’s a way to get you a proper, legal job, so you won’t be forced to do this anymore. If you want to, of course.”

The thief’s eyes sparkle to life.

“Betcha ass I do!” he screams, but Superboy seems to strengthen his grip. “Ugh, sorry! Ma mamma gonna be so proud imma help superheroes!”

Red Robin chooses to ignore that and gives the guy instructions to say that he saw Red Robin and Superboy investigating the site and that they didn’t find anything and left. He’s also to propose to his mysterious employers to take on any other job like this, if they have any, and then – to report to Red Robin. The guy agrees and scurries to the side to count the money Tim had given him.

Superboy gets closer to Tim, hovering a foot or so over the ground.

“So, we’ve found clues!” he beams at him. “Can we go on a date _now_?”

This again! Tim genuinely does not understand what’s in this guy’s head.

“No!” he splutters.

Superboy gets this kicked-puppy look on his face that makes Tim’s insides turn.

“Why?”

Tim’s brain is overworking itself by trying to form words. Before he can come up with what to say, the thief guy chimes in:

“Aww, but why? He’s tryin’ so hard!”

“Listen, you-” Tim growls at the guy.

“Gary,” the thief supplies helpfully.

“This is none of your business, _Gary_,” Tim says pointedly.

Then, he takes out his grapple and fires it into the nearby building, pulling himself onto it’s roof swiftly.

Superboy follows.

"That was cool!" he says, nodding at Red Robin's grapple. "So, about that date-"

"We've got a lead to follow, _Superboy_," Tim says pointedly.

"Oh," Superboy says, minutely crestfallen. "Okay, business first, I guess. So what's the plan, partner?"

Red Robin nods. Okay, with this sorted out and, hopefully, no more talk about _dates_, they will be able to get this case solved.

"We're going to follow Gary, obviously. I've planted a tracker on him, so let's see how _honest_ he's being."

"Ohh, that's smart!" Superboy whistles.

Tim pretends that it does nothing for him and wills his blush away. He opts for saying nothing and opens the tracker on his wrist computer. The red dot blinks steadily towards the rendezvous point Gary mentioned. Which doesn't mean he was actually honest, of course, but it's a nice touch to his story.

Red Robin takes off and Superboy follows him. Half an hour later and a ride on top of a bus after (Superboy proposed to carry Red Robin. He did it while wriggling his eyebrows, so Tim declined), they end up on a rooftop overlooking a small park.

“What are we gonna do now?” Superboy asks.

“Now we wait,” Red Robin replies and settles down to keep watch.

Superboy tries to strike up a conversation a few times, but Tim shushes him every time and redirects him to watching their goon instead.

Over 15 minutes pass and nothing happens. Tim feels Superboy hover directly behind him meaningfully.

“Superboy, how’s the surveillance on your side? What can you see?” Red Robin asks.

“Ooops, there must be something wrong with my eyes,” Superboy says in a sultry voice. “I can’t take them off you.”

“Superboy, this is serious!” Tim snaps.

His cheeks are burning, so he hides behind the bat-approved binoculars. He’s just gotta get through this patrol, solve the case and he can go home, away from Superboy and his stupid jokes.

Five more minutes after, and Gary’s phone pings. It’s an old flip-phone model so it takes him some time to open it and read the text and answer. After, he looks around the park and goes towards a lush bush beside one of the benches. He leans into it, searches with his hand and gets out victorious, with an envelope.

“How’d it get there?” Superboy asks, confused.

“They must’ve planted it before the randervous. I’ll take a look at the cameras, and I’d need you to go meet Gary in the next alley and take the envelope from him. Here, pack it in the bag. Oh, and approach him only if you’re sure there’s no one around.”

Superboy flies off to do as instructed, for once without much fuss. By the time he gets back, Tim manages to check the CCTV cameras – they were switched off from some remote server. This will require the bat-computer level tech to track, so he has to say goodbye to Superboy (and no, he doesn’t need Superboy to carry him to Gotham) and head back to the cave. He promises Superboy to set up the date and place of the next meeting.  
“I’ll give you my number!” Superboy promises cheerfully.

“I’ll find it myself and will let you know about the case’s progression,” Red Robin counters.

He chooses that moment to fire his grapple and finally get away, towards the place where the bat-plane he arrived here in is stashed.

However, he doesn’t miss Superboy’s disappointed murmur:

“But I don’t have yours!”

Tim tries to ignore it and does not turn back.

***

In the evening, Lois visits.

Conner likes it when she comes to the farm – not only because she’s very pretty to look at, but also because she’s so different from the Kents. Conner likes them, he does, but he could use some _different_ now and then.

So, Lois’ visits are always welcome – especially when she brings something with her. This time, she had brought a tray of macarons and Conner have already eaten through half of it.

For the past five minutes, Lois has been watching him with the intensity of a journalist about to uncover a sensational mystery.

Not for the first time this evening, Superboy sighs and stuffs another macaron into his mouth.

“Is something bothering you?” Lois asks, finally.

“No,” Conner starts to say. Then, he sighs again. “It’s just-”

There’s another sigh and another pause. Lois moves her chair a bit closer to him.

“It’s just what?”

Superboy chews on his lower lip and finally blurts out:

“How do I make a person like me?”

Lois seems to be taken aback by it, but recovers quickly.

“Oh sweetie, you can’t _make_ a person like you.”

“That’s not really helpful!”  
“You can just try your best to show them that you’re a good option and let them choose. But, well, what have you already tried?”

“Flirting!”

There’s a very complicated swarm of emotions that passes over Lois’ features.

“What?” Superboy asks, defensive. “I’m good at it! It’s always worked before, some of my fans even fainted and even more had to be held off by security!”

“True, Celebrity-boy,” Lois laughs. “So what, it doesn’t work now?”

“It doesn’t! I think he doesn’t care that I’m famous. But he’s really cool so that’s why he’s not impressed, I guess.”

“Oh, that’s some tough crowd you got there,” Lois says and smirks. “Do you want to tell me who this boy is?”

“Red Robin,” Conner sighs.

Lois chokes on her tea. Was it too hot? Is there something wrong with it?

“I’m okay,” Lois says, waving Conner away when he surges to his feet to try and help. “So. You’ve been flirting with the Boy Wonder himself, huh?”

“B_oy wonder_?” Superboy asks, perplexed.

“That’s what they called Robin in the papers back when he appeared. I’m not sure how many of them have been there, but surely not _one_. Also when the new one appeared, the current one, Red Robin had his debut. He’s also the same height and size as the previous Robin, so the conclusions were pretty simple. Jimmy’s written a comparative analyses on them for the Daily Planet if you’d like to take a look.”

Superboy nods, enchanted. There’s more information on Red Robin than he thought! Maybe he’ll find better pictures!

“You’re the best, Lois, thanks! Imma go get my tablet, okay? Don’t wait up!”

Superboy sprints away, filled with new energy coursing though him. He also can’t help but hear Lois mutter under her breath ‘_I’m not getting paid enough to deal with this_’, but he’s not sure what that’s about.

***

Tim runs the tests on the envelope and finds nothing but micro particles of dirt and Gary’s fingerprints.

The dirt is from the park where the envelope was found – he’s checked. It’s so precisely sterile it should be impossible, but Tim guesses he should start getting used to the impossible on this case.

Bruce asks him again if he wants to be taken off the case.

Tim declines.

Instead, he works day and night to find as many places connected to LexCorp as he can and ends up with a list of buildings and places acquired via a bank account that was connected to the servers that have turned off the cameras in the park.

There’s a lot of work to do.

Tim sends a message to Superboy and gets ready for another mission with him.

“So cool that we’re hanging out,” Superboy says, practically vibrating on the spot. Tim had only seen Flash do this.

“We need to finish this case,” Red Robin nods.

“You wanna finish this case. I wanna finish this case. See, we have so much in common!” Superboy grins.

Tim chooses to ignore it and proceeds with showing Superboy the list of the places they have to check. Once again, Superboy proposes to carry him in his arms. However, this time Tim is ready.

“I’ve got a better idea. Let’s see if you can keep up with me.”

He jumps down without any other words and gets to his bike. It was kinda Bruce’s idea – to see how well they’d work together, him and Superboy. Bruce didn’t exactly encourage Tim to drive his motorcycle at a dangerous speed through the city, trying to outrun the meta, he just said they should do something together, but, well, what works, right?

So that’s how Tim finds himself speeding through Metropolis, with the super flying over him.

He loves his bike, because Red Bird has been with him since his Robin days. They’ve been together through a lot, but he doesn’t always have time to just ride the bike and feel the wind in his hair.

He loves the speed, the freedom it gives him.

He also loves the danger and how he needs all of his skill and a little bit of luck to stay out of it.

Right now, he also loves the fact that there’s wind in his ears and not Superboy irritating him with his stupid jokes.

It doesn’t last long, because he arrives to the place a few blocks away, where he decided early on to leave his bike.

As soon as he parks it, Superboy lands beside him.

“They gotta take away your license, boy wonder,” Superboy says through harsh pants. “’Cause you’re driving me crazy.”

Tim ignores the old Robin nickname. Also, the second part of the sentence. Tim just barely ignores it all.

“I don’t have a license,” he says instead. “I’m not old enough to apply for it.”

Red Robin starts climbing the building they’ve stopped near to. From there it’s only a few rooftops away to the place that he suspects might be connected to LexCorp.

“How old are you?” Superboy asks, flying beside him.

“Secret identities are there for a reason, Superboy,” Tim says through gritted teeth.

"But it's just your age and not like, your social security number!" Superboy protests.

Tim ignores him.

Ignoring Superboy works.

For, like, one location they check.

Because as soon they confirm that whatever equipment has been stocked in the abandoned building, it's not here anymore and everything has been cleaned out thoroughly, Superboy starts talking again.

"So, about that date. You don’t have to tell me if you want me to take you out to dinner. Just smile for _yes_, or do a somersault for _no_," Superboy winks at him and does finger guns.

Tim schools his expression into the most stoic scowl he can manage and backflips off the building, doing a double somersault before landing on the next rooftop.

That, sadly, does not discourage Superboy, because when Tim looks at him, the other boy looks awed.

It goes downhill after that.

“I hope you know CPR…” Superboy says, when in one of the abandoned labs he breathes in a cloud of dust that got out when he opened a closet. Before Tim has any chance to panic, Superboy adds, “Because you are taking my breath away!”

“It's a good thing I'm wearing gloves,” Superboy says in the next abandoned building, bagging evidence, “Because you're too hot for me to handle.”

When he starts another one with “Is your name Wayne-” Tim nearly has a heart attack, but it turns out that the line finishes with “-net? Because you're the answer to everything I'm searching for.”

Which.

Isn’t exactly better.

“I'm sick,” Superboy says, floating carelessly behind him, his head resting on his bend arms, “-and my doctor prescribed me Vitamin U.”

_We don’t kill_, Tim thinks and does not respond.

There’s only one location left to check, so Tim schools his expression into a serious one and speeds up.

He’s expecting it to be the same as the others – some abandoned warehouse and nothing to find, but instead they find a crumbling, old building, nonetheless populated with people.

Okay, this is bad.

Officially, the place shouldn’t be full of people, but it’s a bad part of town and Tim guesses that the homeless people had made a home out of this abandoned house – it happens frequent enough in Gotham.

“Hey, Rob,” Superboy says.

“_What_?!” Tim snaps, expecting another joke.

“Is the building supposed to be ticking?”

Tim turns to Superboy – and no, his face is serious for once, so he guesses it’s not a joke.

“What do you mean by _ticking_?”

“Sounds bit like when we were in that shop?”

It could be practically anything, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bomb, but Tim has learned not to trust his luck.

“Can you tell me where the sound it coming from?”

It takes some time for Superboy to concentrate, but he manages to find it – the sound is coming, predictably, from the basement. They get there in record time and find a lab full of scientist equipment and the bomb that looks a lot like what Gary described the thieves bought from the scientists.

The previous bomb was practically melted after the explosion, and the size of it is not really big, but by what Red Robin gathered from the last time the bomb blew up, it can do a lot of damage.

The extra cherry on top is that the place the bomb is strapped to is chosen to topple over the building and have it in demolished completely.

The ticking red timer on the bomb says ‘5 minutes’.

“We need to evacuate the building,” Red Robin says. “Can I trust you to do that?”

For once, Superboy just nods and does not accompany it with any bragging.

“What ‘bout you?” he asks instead.

Tim looks around the lab. It’s practically untouched, the first one to have any equipment left.

“I’ll stay and try to disarm the bomb, but I don’t think I’ll have enough time to do that. So I’ll count on you to use that super speed of yours.”

Reluctantly, Superboy agrees to leave him – only after Tim promises to flee the lab as soon as the bomb’s countdown goes down to one minute. Red Robin presses a spare comm link into Superboy’s hand, instructing him to give updates on the evacuation.

They both get to work – Tim with the lab and Superboy with the inhabitants of the building. Before starting with the fingerprints and equipment analyses, Red Robin puts a call through to the emergency services. He sends the fingerprints that he – _luckily, finally__ – _manages to find to his gauntlet computer and takes pictures of the lab. He maybe takes too long to poke and look at the equipment, because it looks way too advanced comparing to the modern tech in most labs, and somehow a bit foreign, too.

By the time Red Robin turns to the bomb, less than one minute is left.

“Superboy, what’s your status?” he asks, pressing his finger to the comm.

There’s no answer.

“Superboy?” Tim repeats. “Do you copy?”

Again, there’s nothing, and, belatedly, Red Robin understands that he hadn’t heard a thing from Superboy since they parted ways.

Tim curses under his breath and rushes to the door, hoping that it means there’s just something wrong with the comms and not Superboy laying somewhere, unconscious.

He has to get to the roof to aim the grapple to the nearest building and swing – it’s his only chance to get away from the blast unscathed, running away from it if he just gets out through the main door won’t be as fast. Also, this is an opportunity to see if everyone’s been evacuated.

On the rooftop, the timer that Red Robin has set on his gauntlet beeps, signaling that there’s only three seconds left to the blast and he’s still getting his grapple ready and it’s not enough time at all and it’s like 5 floors down to the ground and there’s gonna be a lot of rubble and is he going to end up just like _Jason_….

There’s a pull of a force he cannot see wrapping around his waist and he is being propelled forward, fast, by something invisible that manages to hold him in the air.

There’s a blast behind him that warms his back in a startlingly hot wave of heat, and then he is being slammed into something solid and warm.

Arms sneak around his waist and hold him in an iron grip, pressing his head into a warm shoulder.

“Holy shit,” Superboy gasps into his ear. “Holy shit, are you okay?”

They’re hanging in the air, the rubble that’s been left from the building collapsing is far beyond them.

Tim has no other option but to hold on to Superboy.

“I’m fine,” he says in a practiced, calm voice. “Why didn’t you answer the comm link?”

“I updated you ‘n everything, but you didn’t answer,” Superboy says, buffled. “Though you were ignoring me again.”

At that, Superboy sounded hurt. The kicked puppy look on his face made Tim feel very ashamed.

“There was probably a problem with the comms,” Red Robin says. “I’ll fix it for the next time.”

“Oh, so there’s gonna be a next time?” Superboy grins.

“This case is not over. Now, we have to get down and ask a few questions after everyone gets medical help.”

The emergency services have arrived, with firefighters keeping down the flames and the medics are checking civilians for injuries.

When they touch down, there’s flashes of cameras going off, taking pictures of them standing in front of the destroyed building, and people saying thank you, and some crying.

Reporters arrive together with police and Tim leaves Superboy to talk to them – after all, it’s his city. While Superboy entertains the reporters, Red Robin keeps busy by asking the locals about the hidden lab in the basement. He manages to get a few good descriptions of the people who worked there and even one account of an overheard conversation.

When he gets back, Superboy is still talking to the press. They step away to let him pass.

“Superboy,” Red Robin says. “We need to go.”

“Okay,” Superboy agrees easily.

Too easily, and also there’s a lazy smile on his lips, and then there’s no time for Tim to do anything before he is being swept away and into the sky on superspeed. He only hopes that the movement have been too fast for cameras to catch.

Superboy lands them on a rooftop away from the explosion site and, thankfully, lets Red Robin go as soon as their feet touch the ground. Down in the alley behind the building, Gary the unlucky thief is already waiting for them, as was instructed.

“We’re late for the meeting with out informant,” Tim starts, because they really ought to get to Gary’s to see if he recognizes some of the descriptions the civilians gave him. “But there’s one thing I want to discuss.”

Superboy grins at him and something hot glimmers in his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“You pulled me off the building somehow, but you weren’t exactly in a close proximity to me at that moment. How did you do it?”

Superboy’s expression changes and he frowns.

“Dunno. Just panicked. Saw you there on the roof and heard the bomb and I just… Dunno. I though you were _gonna die_.”

Superboy shudders at that and Tim remembers belatedly that Superboy is not used to the near death experiences as much as Red Robin is.

“I’m okay,” he says. “You did good, you got to me on time and you saved me.”

“You’re crazy,” Superboy laughs, but it sounds uneasy. “No one can be okay after a close call like that!”

“I’ll _be_ okay,” Red Robin says and suddenly remembers that he haven’t even thanked the guy for saving his life. “And it’s all thanks to you.”

Superboy looks taken aback and then blushes.

“You and your freaky new power, whatever it is,” Red Robin adds, smirking.

The line that he’s thought up to ease the tension works.

“It’s cool, ain’t it?” Superboy grins, puffing out his chest. “I don’t think even Superman has it!”

“Hmm, kinda,” Tim agrees. “We’ll have to leave testing it for later, though. How about we regroup and have some rest and meet up with our informant tomorrow? I need to run some tests.”

“Whatever you say, wonder boy,” Superboy grins. “Maybe text me from a number that’s not hidden this time, so I could answer?”

“Maybe,” Tim shrugs, but still smiles a little.

There’s a very weird warm feeling in the middle of his chest. He chalks it up to the adrenaline winding down.

Without further delay, Tim swings off the roof and tries his best to disappear in the shadows, listening for Superboy’s awed gasp.

On the way back to Gotham, he turns on the Metropolis news channel. On it, Superman is saying how proud he is about the rescue mission Superboy had managed today, with Red Robin’s assistance.

_H__omelessness is a problem_, Superman says, _and th__e__s__e__ people need help. _

A few charities are being organized by the time he finishes his inspirational speech.

Tim wishes it was that easy in Gotham, with so many people willing to help. Maybe Metropolis has an upper hand at something, after all.

And maybe Superboy’s not that bad, Tim thinks.

When they meet the next day for the rendezvous with their informant Gary and Superboy starts with offering for Red Robin to touch his ‘boyfriend material’ jacket, he promptly takes that thought back.

Gary smiles a smile full of yellow, crooked teeth when he hears that. It seems sincere, but is insanely infuriating for Red Robin – this was supposed to be a serious discussion about how Gary has been contacted about another job that will be payed in cash via an envelope left anonymously in the bushes. The offer came from the same unknown number as before, so it’s a safe bet that they’re the same employer, obviously connected to the LexCorp illegal labs that Red Robin has been investigating for the last week.

And here Superboy was, joking around like he’s asking Tim out on a date _again_.

“Can we not do this _here_?” Red Robin hisses through gritted teeth.

“Nah, Gary’s cool,” Superboy say, totally missing the point.

“Yeah, I’m cool,” Gary nods enthusiastically.

“So, what do you say?” Superboy specifies.

Tim feels like throwing him off the roof top they’re standing on, even though it won’t do much because Superboy can fly.

Red Robin addresses the former thief, ignoring Superboy.

“If we’re clear on the communication links and how you can use them to send me the coordinates you’ll receive, you can go.”

Gary seems to understand that it’s not a request, because he gulps nervously and retreats from the rooftop in a rush.

Superboy and Red Robin are left alone.

“Aw, did ya wanna stay alone with me for this?” Superboy coos. “So, for the date, I was thinking-”

“No!” Tim shouts with an intensity that surprises even himself. “Would you stop joking around already?!”

Superboy takes a step back in surprise. He also looks confused.

“But I’m not joking?”

It’s time for Tim to be shocked.

“You’re? You’re _not_?” he stammers out. “Wait, do you really want to ask me out on a _date_?”

His voice goes weird on the word date and Superboy pales, his eyes frantically searching Red Robin’s face.

“You don't like boys?” Superboy asks, his eyes wide. “Sorry I'm forgetting people can be like that.”

“It’s not _that_!” Tim says and feels that his cheeks heat up. “You don't even _know_ me!”

“That’s because you won’t tell me anything!” Superboy yelps, wringing his arms. “Let me get to know you? I like you, you're very cool.”

Tim stares at him. All this time, Superboy wasn’t joking? He was really trying to flirt with him? Hadn’t he just told Tim he likes him?

More importantly – who told him those pick up lines were good?

The look on Superboy’s face is hopeful and uncharacteristically shy. Tim’s gotten so used to the other boy being brash and forward lately, that it takes a minute to get his thoughts together.

Before Tim manages to come up with anything to say, a flurry of red and green and yellow attacks him, swearing profoundly in Arabic and sporting a katana.

Red Robin blocks the hit aimed at his head and rolls away, getting up to his feet and into a fighting stance in a second.

In front of him, Damian stands, clad in Robin uniform. The kid is fuming, looking like he’s about to explode.

“You!” Damian barks out like an angry chihuahua. “Care to explain this!”

A newspaper is being thrown at Tim’s face. Some more pages fall out of it, scattering all around the ground. Superboy bends to take a look at one of the pages and whistles.

There’s pictures of the two of them, Red Robin and Superboy. They’re standing shoulder to shoulder in most of them, or are at the very least in a close proximity. There’s rubble that once was a building behind them on most pictures and crying, but grateful people on the others. Their figures look very heroic with the fire glowing from the explosion.

The newspaper that Damian had thrown at Tim’s face is a Daily Planet one, and the pages are printed news articles from all around the web. The Daily Planet, beside the picture of the two of them, added a picture of Superman and Batman standing together in a very similar manner. The headline says ‘_Red Robin and Superboy: the next generation of the World’s Finest Duo!_’.

Tim sighs an exasperated sigh.  
“Robin,” he says and his heart constricts painfully at the title that’s been his just a few month ago. “Does Batman know you’re here?”

“You shut your mouth!” Damian roars, and it looks both funny and terrifying because he’s not even up to Tim’s chin. “You’re doing this on purpose! You could not stand that Robin is rightfully mine now, so you went behind my back and now you want to be the next Batman! You’re trying to steal my father’s legacy and I shall not allow it!”

“You should really head back to Gotham,” Red Robin says, ignoring Damian’s words. “I will call Nightwing to pick you up.”

“Are you too much of an imbecile to hear me? Explain yourself, are you trying to steal my father’s place from me?!”

Tim wants to scream. Wants to deck Damian right in the face – because if we’re talking about stealing, it’s what Damian did, what he was, is – a thief who’d come out of the blue and took his place as Robin, took his brother, his father. Red Robin opens his mouth, knowing full well that what he’s about to say will blow up into a fight of epic proportions and not caring much about it. But Superboy beats him to it.

“Awwww,” Superboy says, looking at Damian as if he’s something small and cute. “Ain’t you adorable?”

This makes both Damian and Tim turn to the other boy, looking at him in disbelief.

It also seems that while they were arguing, Superboy had managed to collect all of the pages that were scattered around the ground.

Damian splutters and is about to say something obviously insulting, but Superboy is suddenly standing just in front of him.

“Ain’t it cute how you’re such an exited little fanboy of Red Robin’s?”

Both Damian and Tim look at Superboy with matching horror on their faces. How exactly did Superboy come to this conclusion?

“I am not a _fan_ of his!” Damian yelps in disgust.

“Awwww, no need to be shy ‘bout it, really. I understand, Red Robin is very cool.”

“I am _not-_” Damian starts indignantly.

“’S ‘kay, really. You’ve put all of these articles together, that must’ve been a lot of work. And the pics you’ve chosen are all very flattering, good job! Also, going all the way from Gotham to Metropolis on your own? You must admire him a lot.”

“I do _not_!” Damian splutters. “I do not care for him at all!”

Superboy clicks his tongue and shakes his head.

“Huh-huh, buddy, seems like a lot of effort for someone you don’t care about.”

Damian is, absolutely unexpectedly, speechless. He just opens and closes his mouth, like a fish. Tim has never seen him like this.

“I’m glad you admit how you feel,” Superboy says, putting a hand on Damian’s shoulder. “But I think if you wanna get RR’s autograph, it’ll have to wait – we were busy here. How ‘bout you wait for him in Gotham? That’s a good champ!”

While speaking, Superboy had managed to turn Damian around – miraculously, not loosing an arm – and move him closer to the rooftop edge. Damian is still gulping air, but he reaches for his grappling gun almost automatically and is on the other building in mere seconds, the papers that Superboy had tucked back into his hand clutched there.

Before bewildered Tim has a chance to ask what’s just happened, Superboy speaks.

“Well, wasn’t that kid a little nightmare. You okay?”

It suddenly dawns on Red Robin that what Superboy just did wasn’t an act of misjudgment at all.

“You manipulated him,” Tim realizes. “That’s _brilliant_!”

“Well, those evil Lex Luthor genes ain’t there for nothing,” Superboy laughs, but it sounds way too self-deprecating.

His face looks sour and he avoids looking at Red Robin.

Tim steps closer to him and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Genetics don’t mean a thing,” he says softly.

“It’s all I have,” Superboy says and the look on his face is unexpectedly deep and sorrowful. “It’s all I’ve ever been, a copy of someone else’s DNA.”

Tim is left speechless for a second – he hasn’t expected this from Superboy, who always seemed so easy-going and silly to him. Red Robin’s really getting dizzy because of all of the turns today is taking.

“How about we sit for a bit?” he asks and tugs Superboy towards the edge of the roof.

They sit there, their feet dangling.

“I’m sorry,” Superboy says. “Shouldn’t have unloaded all of that on you.”

“It’s okay,” Tim assures him. “Have you ever told anyone about how you feel?”

Superboy shakes his head.

“Superman and his family are already doing too much for me. I don’t wanna bother them with this, too. It’s just... I was Superman and Lex told me what to do, but now I don't even know what I’m supposed to be. It's a stupid clone thing, I guess.”

“It’s not stupid,” Red Robin assures.

Because, actually, it hits too close to home. He muses for a moment if it’s best to keep quiet, but decides against it in the end.

“I know how you feel. I was Robin, before. And, well, a lot of things happened, and suddenly I wasn’t. Had to think up a new name and everything. I don’t think I figured out what I’m doing yet.”

“This kid, he’s been wearing Robin uniform, right?” Superboy asks carefully, looking at Red Robin intently.

“Yeah,” Tim sighs.

“And he said something about his father?”

“Yeah,” Tim says, quieter. “He’s Batman’s _blood son, _so, I guess, he’s better suited to be Robin than me.”

“Didn’t you just say genetics don’t mean a thing?” Superboy asks.

His lips quirk into a small smirk and his eyes are a warm green color.

It’s cute.

It’s also _not the time_ to think that.

“Batman said that, too, but I’m not Robin anymore, so I don’t really know if he meant it,” Tim shrugs. “We’re still finding out how to work together, with this new Robin added to the family.”

“Change is supposed to be good, ain’t it? I mean, if you were still Robin and worked with Batman, he would’ve tagged along and we couldn’t just talk like this. Maybe we wouldn’t even met. That would’ve sucked.”

Tim chuckles and Superboy beams at him.

Maybe Superboy isn’t all that bad.

“But, ugh, I meant what I said before. You’re really-really cool, Rob. I like you a lot.”

Superboy is blushing a bit and Tim feels his cheeks heat up, too.

“And, uh, maybe I could get to know you?” Superboy adds, suddenly shy. “If you’d let me?”

_He’s cute when he blushes_, Tim thinks, and says without actually deciding if he should:

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Superboy beams at him, his voice shaking with excitement. “Will you go on a date with me?”

“You said you wanted _to get to know me_,” Red Robin says sternly. “So let’s start with that.”

Superboy frowns, but is not completely discouraged.

“Will you at least give me your phone number?” he asks, hopeful.

Tim thinks about if for a bit. If he gives him the coded, patrol-related comm number, it can’t be that bad, right? They could always be in contact about the case, if they need to.

“Okay. You can text me if you have any new ideas about the case we’re working, but _do not_ use it too much. It’s an inner comm channel for patrol purposes and it’s secure.”

They say their goodbyes after that, and when Red Robin grapples away, Superboy yells after him:

“I’ll win you over! You’ll see!”

Tim ignores the other boy’s bright smile and pretends that he’s not blushing.

***

The next evening Tim’s patrolling Gotham alongside Damian. For his impromptu excursion to Metropolis, the little evil gremlin had gotten in trouble and now he’s to be monitored closely by the others and is not allowed to patrol alone. Somehow, Tim ended up with a punishment worse than that, even though Batman and Nightwing say he’s not being punished. But what else could it be, when he’s forced to babysit the demon child?

Damian, blessedly, is silent. He’s been giving Tim silent treatment for the whole day and Tim couldn’t be happier.

But in a few hours, however, it gets boring. He’s used to Nightwing babbling whenever they patrolled as a duo, or even to Batman asking for his opinions on the case.

Then, Red Robin’s personal comm pings.

He opens it to find a message from a contact that he’s labeled as ‘superboy’. The message consists of a picture of two sparrows fighting, the smaller one opening it’s mouth in a scream.

When Tim asks Superboy to explain what he’s sent, the response he gets is ‘_it you __& the kid_’.

Tim looks at the picture again and snorts, earning a glare from Damian.

He thinks about ignoring Superboy, but then, the stakeout they’re at is boring, nothing’s been happening for a whole hour they’ve been here and they’re here only for recon anyway, not allowed to engage.

He could answer and keep an eye on the docks they’re watching, right? It’s better than Damian’s hostile silence anyway.

So, Tim answers. Superboy texts him another picture of a bird. Then, a picture of a bat. Then some videos of baby bats being fed. He also sends Tim some songs, but it’s not like Red Robin can listen to them at the moment. He sends some of the ones he likes, too.

That’s how the whole stakeout passes, with Tim texting Superboy and not being bothered by Damian at all. As he predicted, nothing happens and in a few hours they leave.

They keep on texting for the next few days, too, waiting for Gary to get back to them on the location of his new ‘job’. They discuss the case, Tim really tries his best to update Superboy on the lab equipment that led to a few scientists that have been fired from other labs because of inhumane, disturbing experiments they’ve proposed. But it’s not that much of info, and after it’s shared they can’t do much but wait.

So Tim listens to the songs Superboy sends him – there’s _Wonderwall_, for god’s sake – and sends some back (there’s one that made him think about Superboy, it’s called ‘False confidence’, and he tells him that when he sends the song). He also shares some of his favorite vine compilations and explains some memes, on which Superboy, surprisingly, has been missing out.

A few evenings later, after a workout, when he’s finishing his shower in the cave – he didn’t go out today, because it’s a school night and Bruce doesn’t let him miss too much of that – he sees Batman video-chatting with Superman on the batcomputer.

“You wanted him to act like a kid,” Bruce says. “This is what kids act like, Clark.”

Tim’s not sure, but he kinda thinks that Bruce sounds smug.

“No they're not!!” Clack says, hysterical. “Normal kids don't throw tractors!!”

There is a very long pause. Bruce takes a very deep breath.

“He did what,” he asks in a completely calm voice.

"At the farm, I asked him to toss me a bucket and he threw a tractor at me and told me he thought I wanted the tractor?" Superman sounds close to tears. "Why would he think I wanted a tractor, Bruce?! Why would he throw it?!"

Tim presses both of his hands to his mouth to hold in the roaring laughter that's shaking his whole body.

Bruce notices him, of course, because he's Batman. He turns his head slightly to give Tim a disappointed glare.

Tim can't hold it in anymore and he laughs, catching Clark off guard. On the screen, Superman looks disheveled and absolutely miserable, and Tim flees up the stairs and away from the cave, laughing all the way up.

As soon as he gets to his room and to his phone, he texts Superboy.

***

Conner stays in his room on the farm the whole evening, because he's not allowed outside.

He had a shouting match with Clark and it's really not his fault Superman doesn't have a sense of humor, okay? The vine Rob had sent him was really funny!

He _really_ didn't need to be lectured on dangers of throwing farming machinery around, it's not like Superman couldn't take it!

It's good that Clark is so new to this parenting thing that he forgot to take Conner's phone away.

Conner's laying on his back on the bed, the phone in his outstretched hands. He’s playing a game on it, the one with the colorful gems you gotta put in lines - he really likes how sparkly it is.

Then, his phone pings.

That's the special sound he assigned for Rob's messages, and he barely catches his phone before it falls onto his face.

**♥pretty bird♥ **[10:12 PM]:

B-man had a chat 2day S told him @ the tractor & i’m wheezing

**SUPERDude **[10:13 PM]:

cool cool cool

i’m grounded now

**SUPERDude** [10:16 PM]:

glad you liked it though

**SUPERDude** [10:19 PM]:

always nice to put a smile on your pretty face

After the last message is sent, there’s no reply for a really long time – five minutes, whole horrible, long five minutes. When Superboy is already beginning to succumb to the horrible fate of being heartbroken forever, his phone pings again.

This time, Rob sends him a single smiling emoji.

Conner hugs the phone to his chest and squeals so loud the cows in the barn wake up.

He’s gonna count that as a win.

***

The next morning at breakfast Tim is keeping his phone close. Yesterday, he shared one of his favorite movies with Superboy and is still waiting for him to tell him what he thought about it.

“Timmy, are you working another case right now?” Dick asks, frowning.

They’re sitting at the breakfast table together with him and Damian, only Bruce is still not up.

“Um. No, it’s just-”

"Drake's boyfriend," Damian spats.

"Dami!” Dick gasps. “Is that supposed to be an _insult_? Is a boy dating a boy _bad_?"

Damian looks truly uncomfortable under Dick’s guilt-tripping gaze. It’s taken a lot of Dick’s effort to fight the bigotry that was natural in the League, and it seems like it’s working – Damian looks ashamed.

"No, it is not," the kid finally says.

"What else do we have to say?" Dick prompts.

Damian mumbles something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I am sorry for insinuating that there is something wrong with Drake having a boyfriend," Damian says aggressively.

“He's not my boyfriend!” Tim exclaims, leaping to his feet. “Oh my god!”

Tim leaves, closing the door behind him with a bang.

He throws his phone on the couch and curls up in the other part of it. Not a few minutes pass, and Dick joins him, jumping on him with his whole weight.

“Ew, get your fat butt off me!” Tim yelps, trying to push him off.

“No way, little brother,” Dick coos. “Suffer!”

They scuffle playfully for a while and end up entangled on the couch a few minutes later, Dick’s choke hold on Tim turning into a – not less choking – hug.

“So,” Dick starts, and Tim tries to wriggle out of his hold, because his tone suggests nothing nice. “What’s this I’m hearing about some _special_ boy, huh?”

“It’s nothing!” Tim tries.

Dick hums and tightens his hold.

“He’s nothing special,” Tim tries again, but to no avail – his older brother is still holding him tightly. “We’re just texting!”

His phone pings. Another scuffle ensures, this time because both of them are trying to get to the phone.

Dick manages to grab it first.

“Aww,” Dick says, looking at the message. “He sent you a song!”

“So what? I’ve sent him a song, too!”

“Awww,” Dick says, turning to Tim with a sappy smile.

Tim knows that his cheeks are burning.

“It’s not like that! It’s just a song!”

“Timmy, but it is! It’s very romantic!”

“I didn’t mean it as romantic. It’s! Just! A! Song!”

“Sure, little brother,” Dick says and he doesn’t even try to pretend like he believes him. “But if you need to have the Talk, let me know-”

Tim uses this moment to kick Dick off the couch.

He snatches his phone from his brother’s hand and stomps out of the room, Dick’s laughter following him as he goes.

***

Rob texts Conner about the meeting that’s supposed to take place in the evening and Superboy spends the whole day practically vibrating through the walls of the house. Ma stops trying to get him to do some farm work and just sends him to walk the dog, laughing quietly.

Superboy flies around Smallville a few times and feels a bit more settled.

It’s just, he’s so exited to see Rob today! They’ve been texting constantly and made a lot of progress. Getting to know Red Robin made Conner realize that he likes him even more. He can’t wait to try a few new pick up lines today!

The time to go to Metropolis finally comes and Conner flies a few circles around the city, because being late is what cool people do.

When he touches down on the rooftop that’s their meeting place, Rob’s lip twitches in that irritated, cute way it often does.

Rob goes over their plan, and Conner doesn’t try to remember much about it, except the fact that they’re supposed to go check out the building that their informant Gary will point them to. It’s not like it’s something hard, okay? They can totally deal with it, they’re the future Batman and Superman, right?

When Rob finishes with his instructions, Superboy nods, pretending to have been listening all along. It’s finally the time to get to the part he’s been waiting for.

Conner clears his throat and straightens his back. Breathes in maybe a bit more than he was supposed to, but he’s just a bit… well, worried, okay? All of this catches Rob’s attention and he looks at him expectantly.

“Wonder boy, you got a pen?” Conner asks cheerfully.

“Yes?” Red Robin says, frowning in that cute way of his.

“Fill this in for me,” Superboy grins, pushing a folded piece of paper into Red Robin’s hands.

Rob frowns some more and goes to open the paper.

“It’s rigged,” Superboy supplies helpfully, feeling proud of himself.

The paper asks, in big bold letters: ‘Do you like me?’ and gives options of ‘Yes’, ‘Definitely’ and ‘Absolutely’.

Rob stays silent, not moving, still looking at the paper. Conner starts to get nervous. His smile is slipping off.

“Is this from ‘Gravity Falls’?” Rob asks in a flat tone.

And oh damn. How does Rob know that? Maybe he watched it with some younger siblings?

Because it’s a _kids'_ cartoon! Which Conner watched in secret on Sundays, when Ma was out at the market.

“Um,” Conner says noncommittally.

“I love that show!” Red Robin says and grins.

Rob then looks back to the paper in his hands and snorts-laughs at it. Conner’s heart is melting.

“You’re gon’ be so cute together!” a voice behind them chimes in.

They both turn to see Gary standing by the door that leads up to the roof.

"Gary what the hell?!" Red Robin says, glaring at the guy.

And Conner appreciates Gary’s support, really, but it wasn’t the time!

Rob’s back into his detective mode, so there’s no helping it. Superboy busies himself with looking around and misses half of the boring staff Red Robin asks Gary.

This time, they’re not letting Gary go undercover there – they plan to go to the building themselves.

The building they need is on the outskirts of the city. When they arrive, it’s already dark outside, but each one of the building’s windows are lit. There’s no people in the windows, though.

There’s also no guards and no one stops them from waltzing in through the main doors.

“It’s too easy,” Rob says. “Looks like a trap.”

“We can deal with it, partner,” Conner grins, but he’s feeling uneasy, too.

They walk around the empty halls. Rob has that bat-thingy for throwing in his hand.

Superboy concentrates his superhearing, starting off with Rob's heartbeat and expanding to the whole building. Somewhere further down the corridor, he catches a sound.

"There's another heartbeat in this building," Conner gasps.

Red Robin nods sternly.

"Lead the way," he says.

Rob follows Superboy to the end of the corridor, through what looks like a secret passage in the wall and into a full-on illegal mad scientist lab – having been created in one, Conner recognizes another one like that instantly.

The lab is full of syringes and test tubes and there's some frantic writing on the walls.

There's a man in a white lab coat standing in the middle of the lab, muttering to himself frantically.

There's something very familiar about the muttering.

"Doctor Donovan?" Conner recognizes.

The man turns around – he's half of what Conner remembers of him, all covered in scars and his hair's missing here and there.

"Project 13!" the man beams. His eyes look completely mad. "Glad you followed my invitation!"

"What invitation?" Red Robin growls.

His voice sounds different like that, dropping an octave – it's very hot.

"Oh, you brought a friend over!" Donovan says, ignoring Rob's question. "But we don't need him. It's okay, we'll get rid of him!"

The scientist presses something and the floor under Rob's feet opens to a bottomless pit. Before Conner has a chance to really worry, Red Robin saves himself by grappling away from the danger.

He lands in front of Superboy, as if to cover him, and even though they're practically the same height, Conner appreciates the gesture.

"What do you want from me?" Superboy asks.

"Project 13 is coming back to the lab to have some changes implemented! It's okay, I'll save you from your father and I'll make you better! Isn't it exiting?"

Red Robin presses Superboy back, away from the manically laughing scientist.

"You know him?" Rob asks.

"He worked in Lex's lab," Superboy answers.

Donovan doesn't seem to notice them talking.

"I think he's gone insane," Conner adds.

"Yeah, completely bonkers," Rob agrees.

Donovan mutters some more, giggling to himself. There's papers on the desk before him – they look like building plans.

"I'm sorry, but you're not taking Superboy anywhere, Doctor Donovan," Red Robin says with the calm of a person who deals with crazy every week. “How about you go with us, instead?”

“You weren’t in the plan,” Donovan says, pointing at Rob. “But it’s okay. It’ll kill you, probably. And I’m invincible! I’ll just take Superboy after he’s knocked out.”

The man then looks directly at Conner and says:

“This is for your own good!”

And presses a button on a bracelet that’s on his wrist.

The building blows up.

It’s all happening too fast, but Superboy can be faster, especially when he panics.

He’s also much less focused when he panics, and can’t think straight, so his go-to idea when everything’s blowing up around him is push Donovan out of the window with that awesome new superpower he still has no idea how to turn on or off. He then turns to catch Rob, and he manages to pull him closer by the other guy’s arm and cover him from the rubble with his own body, but then something hits him on the temple and everything goes dark.

***

Tim pushes Superboy off himself and looks around. The building – or, rather, what’s left of it after the explosion - stopped shaking. That’s a good sign, he hopes.

The other good thing is that they’re in a small pocket of space and not just buried under the rubble. It’s probably got to do something with the fact that they have been falling for some time, and the part of the wall he can see is much thicker than the walls in the lab. There’s also another piece of concrete wall over them, covering them from the rubble.

The bad thing is – it’s also covering the exit.

Superboy groans to his right and Tim remembers another bad thing – Superboy’s still out. It’s weird, seeing him unconscious, unmoving – seems like something against nature, like the storm covering up the sun.

But Superboy is – finally, blessedly – waking up, so it won’t take long for them to get out.

Good.

This way he can make sure Bruce never knows Tim had almost gotten killed by a blown up building not once, but twice in one week.

Superboy turns around and tries to lift himself onto his hands and knees. And okay, maybe the space they’ve gotten here isn’t very big, but it’s enough for Tim to stand, bending a little – and Superboy’s not very much taller than him.

“Superboy?” Tim calls. “We need to get out of here, can you do something about it?”

“Sorry, gorgeous,” Superboy says, sitting up. “Seems like you’re stuck with me here.”

Tim feels irritation rise in in his chest – of all the time for Superboy to be flirty again, this is not it!

“Superboy,” he says sternly. “Get us out of here, now!”

“I can't get us out of here!” Superboy protests.

“Yeah, as if I’d believe you!” Tim snaps.

Superboy leans his whole body forward and throws up.

Tim swears under his breath and scrambles to his feet.

“Okay, I believe you!” he says in a panicked voice that’s obvious even to himself.

Red Robin instincts take over his panicking mind, and he checks Superboy for injuries and pulls him away from the mess on the floor.

There’s no injuries on Superboy, his pupils are dilated, but symmetrical. He’s also getting more and more pale by the minute.

Tim pulls Superboy closer and they end up sitting chest to back. Superboy’s head lolls back and onto Tim’s shoulder and he sags in his hands.

“Hurts,” Superboy whines, clutching his stomach.

“Were you hit somewhere?” Tim asks, frantically grabbing for Superboy’s hands.

This isn’t supposed to be happening.

Superboy is supposed to be invulnerable! There’s nothing here that could have gotten though to him!

Wait.

Red Robin checks the radiation monitor that’s build in into his tools and yes, there it is, a slight level of radiation around them.

“Superboy?” he calls. “Are you with me?”

Superboy murmurs something, but does not answer.

This is bad. So bad that Tim’s ready to forget his pride and call Bruce.

He opens his communicator to find out that it’s not working. The gauntlet computer is not working either.

They’re trapped in a collapsed building that’s probably laced with kryptonite and there’s a barely conscious Super in his arms, and he can’t do a thing to help.

Then, Superboy finally opens his eyes and turns to Tim.

Superboy screams and pushes him away, his strength barely there. He huddles himself up in the corner and curls up, trying to make himself look smaller.

“No-no-no-no-no,” Superboy stammers out. “Don’t wanna go into the tube, _please_!”

Damn. These must be the Cadmus lab flashbacks.

Tim crawls to Superboy, taking care to move slowly. But, as soon as Superboy looks up at Red Robin, he trashes violently, trying to get away.

Tim blinks, and the white lenses in his mask close and open, as they usually do.

Superboy presses back into the wall even more. His eyes are overcome with complete, almost animalistic terror.

Tim touches his face. Is the mask freaking Superboy out? Maybe it reminds him of something from the labs?

Tim’s hands shake a little, because he can already hear the lecture Bruce’s gonna give him when he finds them. But, nevertheless, he fishes out a small bottle with the solution that can help him unglue his mask.

Tim takes off his mask to look Superboy in the eye.

It seems to capture Superboy’s attention, because he calms down and starts uncurling slowly.

“Your eyes. Blue,” Superboy says, blinking. “I wanted them green.”

It’s the most coherent speech Tim’s gotten out of him in the last five minutes, so he’d take it.

“Well, sorry,” he says and laughs a little, because now he feels like it’s a bit easier to breath.

“It’s okay,” Superboy assures him.

He’s blinking slowly now, as if he’s tired. When Superboy tries to move, he wavers.

Tim’s there in a blink of an eye, surprising even himself. He maneuvers Superboy to put his head onto his lap and runs his fingers through the other boy’s hair.

“Hurts,” Superboy says again, and his voice is small and scared.

He’s probably not used to pain at all, so that’s why he’s feeling so much of it now. At least he’s not throwing up anymore.

“It’s kryptonite,” Tim explains. “Guess now you know your reaction to it.”

Superboy closes his eyes and lets Tim run his fingers through his hair frantically. When Tim things that the other boy might have fallen asleep, Superboy speaks.

“Am I gonna die?” he asks, his voice sad.

“No, of course not!” Tim exclaims. “Batman’s gonna find us. You’re going to be okay.”

Maybe, Tim’s hands are shaking a bit, but he’s not willing to leave the comfort that touching Superboy’s silky hair brings him. He guesses he does it more for himself than for Superboy, even though the other boy does not complain.

“It hurts a lot,” Superboy whispers. “And we haven’t even figured out my power. The new one. I didn’t tell Superman ‘bout it. He gave me a name, you know? My name’s Conner.”

It was in the file – the civilian identity papers created for Superboy, not without Batman’s help. Tim had known about the name, but he’s never really associated Superboy with it.

He guesses it fits him.

“I haven’t even kissed anyone,” Conner confesses. “I thought you’d be more impressed with me if I acted like I did.”

“Of course you haven’t – because your pick up lines are stupid!” Tim laughs thought the heaviness in his chest.

“’t leas they made y’smile,” Superboy says, his speech slurring.

Tim feels dizzy. It can be because of the fact that they might not have that much air left.

“Hey,” Superboy murmurs. “Nice lips you got here, wonder boy. Can I kiss them?”

Tim laughs and it sounds wet.

Superboy’s barely keeping his eyes open, but there’s still this small, tired smile on his lips.

He’s doing this for Tim – he’s trying to joke to make him feel better.

Tim’s heart constricts painfully in his chest.

It’s true that Superboy’s stupid flirting kept irritating him in the beginning. But then they’ve talked, then – texted. He didn’t notice when the puppy eyes stopped irritating him and instead started to seem to be… cute.

_Batman’s gonna find us_, Tim repeats like a mantra in his head. _I’ll be in a lot of trouble, but he’s gonna find us._

“Hey, Conner,” he says, leaning down. “I’m Tim.”

Superboy’s eyes open wide at that, that gorgeous blue-green color.

Tim leans closer and softly kisses Conner on the lips.

***

Batman finds them at dawn. Superman throws aside what’s left of the walls while Batman pulls both of the boys out. When Superman flies Superboy away from the rubble, Batman presses Tim close to his chest, not letting go. Tim hides his face in his father’s neck, clinging to him as tightly, and does not make a sound.

***

When Superboy wakes up, everything around him is unfamiliar. They must be at Watchtower, because it’s the only place that has the equipment that can help a Kryptonian with the kryptonite poisoning – and Conner remembers fragments of Clark talking about it. There’s a machine hooked up to Superboy’s arm, something to help clear out his blood. And it’s Conner’s first time here, and maybe he’s supposed to pay more attention to it, but then Batman’s entering the room, with Red Robin in tow.

Red Robin’s wearing a new, undamaged mask.

Batman looks Superboy over seriously and steps closer.

“Superboy,” he says. “About what you’ve seen.”

The man nods at Red Robin who looks down and crosses his arms.

“I dunno what you’re talking about,” Superboy says.

“You don’t?” Batman asks, confused.

“Haven’t seen nothing, haven’t heard nothing,” Superboy nods.

Batman finally seems to get it, and is it a small smile on his face?

“Good,” the man nods.

And then, without any other words, he turns around and leaves.

Red Robin doesn’t follow him.

Instead, he sighs, as if stilling himself, and approaches the medical cot that Conner’s laying at. He sits down in the chair near it.

“Hey,” Conner offers weakly.

“Hey,” Rob says. “You scared me.”

He then takes Conner’s hand in his and Superboy feel like he could melt through the cot and all the way back down to Earth.

“Oh wow, didn’t think something could scare the great Red Robin,” his mouth says when his brain is still processing what’s happening.

Rob doesn’t answer. His expression is serious, even though he’s blushing. Conner suspects his face isn’t any better.

Superboy really wishes he could see Rob's pretty blue eyes.

“Will you stay?” he asks tentatively, his fingers shaking. He licks his lips and whispers, “Tim.”

“Yeah,” Tim says. “I’ll stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT UPDATE: there's fanart now by the incredible Ryripeachy themselves! [link](https://ryripeachy.tumblr.com/post/187447871811/fanarts-from-fanfic-ive-read-by-unluckyloki)
> 
> Thank you for reading! Check out the artist's blog that kept me inspired:  
here's a sketch dump of the Reign of Supermen art [JUST LOOK AT SMALL BEAN KON IN HIS BLUE SWEATER](https://ryripeachy.tumblr.com/post/182895602071/reign-of-the-superman-is-treasure)  
  
  
check out my other timkon stuff:  
[ a small 'n cute oneshot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20025574)  
[witch AU (finished) ](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1388419)  
[a self-sacrifice AU with weird galaxies, space pirates and space lesbians (in progress)](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1420471)
> 
> Also, here's [ my tmblr](http://unluckyloki.tumblr.com/)


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